A Day in Our Life in Belgrade- Topčider Park

7:00am- Woken by small, red-headed child who has climbed into my bed in the middle of the night. Rugby Star is missing, found later in small, brown-headed child’s bed… ‘because I promised I would snuggle her.’ My heart is happy.

7:15am- Walk the dogs with the small, red-headed child. Manage to keep the dogs from climbing under a car to kill and eat a cat. Small child coos at the cat while dogs snarl and lunge. Cat is understandably confused. And terrified. Not sure if terrified of dogs or child.

8:00am- Breakfast for all. Bigger small child has found her Leap Pad and headphones. She shouts at me that cereal will be her cuisine of choice. It’s fairly adorable, only because she doesn’t know she’s shouting. The Rugby Star starts Googling houses in Belgrade and cars in Germany. There’s a good chance we’ll move apartments at the end of the year and a better chance that he’s flying to Germany in two weeks to buy a car.

8:45am- I do dishes. Nothing to see here. Except the dishwasher, which is something I’ve never had in another overseas house. It is small, roughly half the size of your standard dishwasher in the US, but it washes the dishes, so you will not find me complaining. The small kitchen has grown on me. I’m figuring out how to make it work.

10:00am- Text from friends- let’s meet and go to the park. Thirty minutes. Frantic rush ensues to get children and mother dressed, teeth brushed, hair brushed, socks AND shoes on, picnic packed, helmets found, bike pulled off the porch, sunscreen and bug spray applied, and a last bathroom stop.

10:29am- Out the door. It’s raining.

10:35am- Meet friends at the corner- we’re going anyway. Walk to the tram.

10:50am- Tram 3 arrives. We load two children’s bikes- with training wheels- and a scooter, plus the three children who will be riding said vehicles, on the tram.

11:00am- Three stops later- Topčider Park. It’s the same park we went to last weekend for a birthday party, only less crowded due to the absence of the Organic Something-or-Other-Festival. The adults pick a bench and the children proceed to ride their various vehicles around.

These are from last weekend…

… but you get the idea.

11:36am- Snack break.

11:50am- Lunch by a stream. The bigger small child picks the spot. It’s quite lovely.

12:04pm- Potty break.

12:10pm- Back on bikes and scooter for more biking and scooting. We make our way towards a more centralized area that boasts balloons, kites, and ice cream for sale. The children ride in circles around the red and yellow flowers.

12:30pm- Ice cream break.

12:50pm- Potty break. The Rugby Star arrives.

1:02pm- We head to the restaurant nearby (Restoran Milosev Konak) which features a playground out the back. The grown-ups order grown-up drinks, bread, and kaymak. The littles run off to play. All is well until a group of kids who don’t speak English start demanding that the littles get off the big hammock swing. Momma Bear intervenes. Then they all start playing nicely until one kid decides that it’ll be fun to kick the bottom of the swing- and also the small, red-headed child and her bestie- as it comes towards her. Momma Bear intervenes. Then another kid comes up and starts hitting the bigger small child in the head with a bag of popcorn. I’m gonna give a WTF to that one. Momma Bear once again intervenes and suggests the littles go play somewhere else for a bit. Calm is restored.

(Here I would interject that, despite this small break in the happiness of the littles- this was a most amazing way to spend an afternoon. I still don’t have a phone plan, so I only use the internet when there is wifi and there wasn’t any. I was able to relax and watch the kiddos play for a couple of hours- and though I felt I should be doing something else, there wasn’t really anything else to do. I chatted with The Rugby Star and a new friend, munched on some delicious bread, enjoyed a glass of wine, and had a nice time outside. It was fairly perfect… until…)

3:00ishpm (wasn’t looking at the time)- The bigger small child has made her way back towards the swing and somehow manages to push it and smash it into her own nose.

BLOOD.

3:45ishpm- Back home. Bigger small child and The Rugby Star pass out in our room. Small, red-headed child passes out on the couch. Mom watches ‘Ozzy and Jack’s World Detour.’

5:00pm- Order dinner. Pasta. I could cook, but I’m not going to. Children are starving, wasting away to nothing. The Rugby Star leaves to go watch football of the American variety, just to be clear.

7:15pm- Bathtime. Bigger small child’s nose is starting to turn a curious shade of blue.

7:45pm- Bedtime. We read ‘Frozen’ and ‘It’s a Book.’ Small, red-headed child gives me a kiss and says, ‘It’s a book, jackass.’ Which is a direct quote from the book. It’s about a donkey. I giggle. She says it again. This could go badly. But it’s pretty funny.

8:00pm- Small, red-headed child needs to go to the bathroom. And pet the dog. And give me a zerbert. And get a glass of water.

8:15pm- She comes to tell me good morning- because she’s slept so long that it must be morning. She’s quite sure of that. And she’s carrying a chestnut or something that fell from a tree.

8:41pm- Small, red-headed child just needs to see what I’m doing. Clearly the 4pm nap was a mistake.